I just contacted the Stax distributor about replacement foam for the earpad side of my Lambda Pros. The response was that now they offer either foam or cloth, and that each is integral to the earpad. $35 and $55, respectively. That raises a couple questions.

Foam or cloth? Cloth would seem more practical. Has anybody tried the cloth? Is there a sonic difference? For that matter, what's the difference between foam and nothing at all?

The earpds on my headphones seem fine. I guess one could make the argument that they could be replaced based on age alone. What should I make of the bundling of the pads and foam/cloth? Is there any performance or design difference between current production earpads and older ones?

And what about the cloth itself? Is it special high-tech high-end Stax-blessed fiber, or will I be annoyed after paying these guys fifty bucks to find it identical to the Part Express speaker grill cloth that I already have an acre of?

I had the cloth on my previous pair of Lambda pros, it was very nice. I believe they were monkey's old pair. It wasn't very much like most speaker cloth I see, it had a mesh pattern over it. Much nicer feel on the ears when it touches then the rough foam that crumbles within a few short years.

See picture I found here:

Wait so they're saying foam earpads are $35 and cloth earpads are $55? Or just the foam/cloth?

Wait so they're saying foam earpads are $35 and cloth earpads are $55? Or just the foam/cloth?

Earpads and cloth or foam as an assembly. If I was to guess, I'd say the cloth or foam is glued to the earpad, which begs the question "why not just let the customer glue the stuff himself?". I suppose the answer is "$35/$55"

I believe the foam they use now is UV stabilized,

meaning that it wont crumble in time

like the stuff they used back in the 1960's - 1980's.

I agree that the cloth has a much better, more natural feel.

I dont even know it's there, unlike the foam which tickles my ears.

Wont be using that again...

Heh, there's a reason the cloth costs more.

It's MOAR better!

(I cant speak about sonic attributes, I never noted a diff there)

Edited February 1, 201115 yr by livewire

Stax Germany only sells the pads with the cloth anymore. The cloth comes with a little rim around it, so you can easily pull it out of the phones and put it back in. To me the cloth kills a little brilliance (which I love and thus keep the cloth in the drawer), don't know about the foam though since I got my Lambdas without it.

If you like a little brighter voices just get the cheaper pads with the foam and cut it away...

All new earpads come with the cloth insert, any earpads with the foam are old stock. It's also not easy to compare this as the new earpads have a different shape to the older ones (more like the original prototype Lambdas). I for one have compared them and I can't hear any difference at all, ditto on the Omegas which use the same cloth inside the pads.

Interesting stuff. If it were me I'd just buy a couple sets of the old stock foam pads and cut out the foam, but apparently I have pretty flat ears as none of the Lambdas I've owned have bothered me (or had any foam left).

cloth ftw.

There is also the option of real leather earpads (like on SR-404LE and SR-507), they worked far better for me than the pleather ones and at the same time improved the sound so they might worth the extra money (ymmv of course). I didn't like the newer version of the pleather pads and the newer arcs only worked with the leather pads for me as I couldn't get enought angle movement.

All this talk about rotten foam (my old low bias SR-lambda's have gone that way) has got me thinking about replacements. They sound quite a bit more forward as compared with the SR-007/2 so cloth/foam might act as a taming influence.

Are all current replacement pads capable of being fitted to the 1986 vintage lambda? Superficially current production looks the same.....calling Spritzer, calling Spritzer...

Yes any type of Lambda pads will fit on it, just not all pads have the same matching black colour.

Edited February 2, 201115 yr by padam

Yup, any Lambda pads will fit. I for one am not that great a fan of the new leather pads since they are so shallow and uncomfortable for me.

at the same time improved the sound so they might worth the extra money (ymmv of course). I didn't like the newer version of the pleather pads

Mind elaborating on them improving sound? I actually think part of why the 404LEs sound funky to me is because of the leather pads but I can't confirm that until I hear another Lambda with those pads. Also what didn't you like about the newer version pleathers?

I felt the imaging was a bit better and the bass was better as well.

With the newer type pads I felt my ears were rubbing against the grilles covering the drivers and I couldn't angle the cups enough with the newer arc so the end result was a weird fit. Maybe it is only me with this problem but I prefer the older arc in that respect. Oddly enough I didn't feel that with the leather pads so it was comfy even with the new arc, the pads adjusted to the shape much better.

It sounds like there's a consensus for cloth.

Birgir - are the new pads better or at least different enough to be amusing in some way? So that I don't feel bad about having to pay forty-some dollars for them when the old ones don't really look at all deteriorated to me?

The new pads will sound different since the distance from the ears to the drivers is a large factor. It's isn't that big of a change though...

Personally I wouldn't change the pads unless they are deteriorating or simply falling off.

I've established that the UK supplier is http://www.highendworkshop.co.uk/ , run by a really interesting guy called Mark Dolbear. His price for a new pair of black Lambda pads is £25 including tax and shipping, which looks like a deal.

Don't get me started on his Kimik mods though. How the hell he's going to offer precise offset and balance settings for the tubes with an unregulated PSU is beyond me...

Don't get me started on his Kimik mods though. How the hell he's going to offer precise offset and balance settings for the tubes with an unregulated PSU is beyond me...

It's not hard really. High PSRR.

With up to 15% variation in the input voltage? The reason why the EU electricity standard is wide is because of the UK system.

With up to 15% variation in the input voltage? The reason why the EU electricity standard is wide is because of the UK system.

Also screws up heater voltage too - but that is common with most amps. Problem is that DC stabilised heater supplies are always inefficient. You need around twice the VA rating on the heater transformer to do DC.

I'm lucky that the system is very stable up here, drifting just a volt or so from 234V. If I ever were to have any issues then I know the guy in charge of the whole network...

This does remind me to check the heaters on the my latest Egmont type amp. I'm guessing the 12.6V is way off spec with just two ECC83's and LED on 1.9A winding.

Can someone recommend a good U.S. source for the cloth pads? I am looking to replace the rotten foam on my new to me Lambda Pros. A quick google search only returns Audiocubes II, and I have never ordered through them/don't know of their reputation.

Edited March 29, 201115 yr by Akathisia